William B. Franklin

William Buel Franklin (27 February 1823-8 March 1903) was a Major-General of the US Army and a corps commander of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

Biography
William Buel Franklin was born in York, Pennsylvania on 27 February 1823 to a family of local politicians, and he graduated first in his class from West Point in 1843. Franklin served as a Lieutenant in the US Army in John E. Wool's army during the Mexican-American War, and he worked as an engineer after the war's end. On 17 May 1861, he was promoted to Brigadier-General of Volunteers at the start of the American Civil War, and he was promoted to Major-General after fighting in the Peninsula in 1862 as a corps commander. Franklin commanded the VI Corps during the Maryland campaign, and his status as a staunch supporter of George B. McClellan led to him being ignored as a candidate to lead the Army of the Potomac; he was allegedly involved with a cabal against Ambrose E. Burnside, and he resigned his commission when Joseph Hooker took command of the army. Franklin was later reassigned to the Department of the Gulf under Nathaniel P. Banks, fighting in the Red River campaign of Texas. In July 1864, after being wounded, he left the front lines, and political and health pressure led to him not holding another command during the war. From 1865 to 1888, he was Vice-President of the Colt Manufacturing Company, and he built the Connecticut State Capitol from 1872 to 1880. In 1876, he was a Democratic Party elector, and he declined to run against Horace Greeley. He died in 1903 at the age of 80.